Monday, March 02, 2015

Having already announced that Elbow, Snoop Dogg, James, The Vaccines and Kaiser Chiefs would be the star attractions at this year's Kendal Calling festival, we've now got another batch of huge names confirmed for the North of England's most idyllic musical event.

Less Than Jake, Augustines, Dutch Uncles and Hudson Taylor are amongst the latest bands to be announced, joining the aforementioned big names as well as the likes of The Levellers, Billy Bragg, Emmy The Great, Mr Scruff and Kate Tempest on what is set to be the most eclectic festival in the UK this side of Glastonbury.

Tickets for the event are now on sale and you can find more information, including the full lineup announcement, here. The fun begins on July 30th and I think we can expect yet more massive names to be announced in the interim.

Beans On Toast went and got married didn't he?! The pioneer of 'drunk folk' tied the knot earlier this year and, not to miss an opportunity, turned his honeymoon footage into a music video. 'New Orleans Honeymoon' is taken from Beans' latest LP The Grand Scheme Of Things and is an ode to the city of New Orleans and the woman he wants to marry.

Inspired by the sights and sounds of the most musical city in the world. The track bursts with deep south influence, the opening horns a sign of the city's European influence and the simple folk melody a nod to the wonderful blues music that emanates from throughout Louisiana. The video itself is one of Beans' lovingly crafted DIY efforts and, yet again, stars his new bride as well as the people and architecture of the cultural hotbed that is NOLA.

I've known the guys in Don Blake for some time. Having started out as Special Agent Set way back when they've evolved, changed their name, switched up their sound and have become a staple of the Manchester (and surrounding) punk scene in the process. With their debut album Pocket Universe just around the corner I thought It'd be a good idea to sit down for a chat with, singer/guitarist, Joe Barlow to discuss the record, their touring plans and chance meetings in toilets...

Nik Bryant (The Ruckus) : Firstly, what is in a name? For people who have known you guys for a while you used to be called Special Agent Set then changed the name to Don Blake. Why the change and why Don Blake?

Joe Barlow (Don Blake) : Special Agent Set was a fun time but the music we were playing was mostly born out of an attempt to do something different after the pop-punk band three of us were in beforehand for a couple of years. We started off playing melodic hardcore in drop C#, which is less fun in a band than for 5 minutes at home, and after getting gradually more poppy, eventually decided to just start a “new” band that plays the pop punk that we like doing best. We picked the name Don Blake because we figured confusing people into thinking we’re a solo folk artist would be a fun challenge to overcome. Plus, Thor is the best comic book.

NB: How did you guys get together?

JB: Me and Rob have been mates since high school. We roped Nige into doing a “side-project” band 9 years ago, and counting. I met Kieron in a club toilet in Wigan, and told him that I’d seen his MySpace page and that it was cool that he was into Lagwagon. Weird that we didn’t really start hanging out for a couple of years after that.

NB: So Don Blake is a comic book reference? Are there a lot of comic references in songs?

Joe (Don Blake) There are some, yeah. I guess pop culture is such a big part of people’s lives that it’s natural subject matter to mine from. Our songs are mostly about social anxiety, relationships, dying, and comic books. Ideally all at once, but that’s hard. The new record is less overtly referential but the title Pocket Universe is kind of a homage to Rob Liefeld’s hilarious/amazing drawings of Captain America.

NB: You have just signed a deal with Round Dog Records. How did that come about and how does that change things for you as a band?

JB: Signing to Round Dog has been really cool and it came about as Fraser’s #2 job in life is rapidly becoming “helping out Don Blake”. After #1: being in the one of the hardest working and best bands around - The Murderburgers.

It changes things in the sense that we’ve got some more support and exposure, and also it gives you a kick up the arse when we’ve got music released alongside them (The Murderburgers) and The Kimberly Steaks!

NB: So you have an album release set for the 6th March. Can you tell us a little about the new album?

JB: It’s called Pocket Universe. It’s got a slightly different feel to P.O.P. Music, with more mid-tempo songs on there which let us focus on vocal melody stuff. There are still some fast songs though. It's more cohesive as it’s our first proper full-length, rather than an E.P. Collection. For fans of anxiety and atheism and singalongs.

Bob Cooper did an awesome job on the production, he’s the best!

NB: You have previously released a split with Andrew Cream. How does this release differ to releasing a split?

JB: Our half of the split 7” had three songs on there, which meant they had to be really short and direct. The songs on the new album are still relatively short compared to some bands but for us I reckon they’re a bit meatier and also have more diversity in tone etc.

There are also less songs by Andrew Cream on there.

NB: How do you go about the writing process?

JB: We tend to all write songs individually then fine-tune together, to make sure the structures are right and add harmonies excetera. Writing as a group from scratch can be mostly unproductive in my experience, with the odd cool song coming out of it every now and again. I personally try to come up with a catchy vocal melody then write some lyrics around that, most of the time, but every song can be different. Ultimately, the writing process is sitting down writing until we have something finished.

NB: So what's next on the cards for Don Blake? Tour, Upcoming shows, Festivals, Plans for a video or other release?

We’re going on tour on the 26th March with the aforementioned Andrew Cream. It’s our first European tour; we’re super excited and are lucky to have a Euro-veteran like Andrew looking after us. Kieron and Nigel play with Andrew when he does his #fullband stuff, so they have to do twice as much work as everyone else.

Before that though, we’re playing with Chumped in Manchester on the 28th Feb. Then with Masked Intruder and The Muderburgers in Manchester on the 13th May and Scene Better Days Fest on 11th July in Leeds. We’re going to be getting more touring in the UK sorted soon, now the album’s all done.

NB: Favourite show you've played?

JB: Playing at The Fest was the absolute best; what could be better than playing the best festival in the world with a bunch of your mates’ bands?

NB: Whats on the iPod? What are you listening to?

JB: Alternating between The Kimberly Steaks and Taylor Swift is a good way to keep your mood level; with Run The Jewels to break it up every now and again.

Make sure you check out Don Blake here at and pick up Pocket Universe when it is released on March 6th.

Hello and welcome to Listening Game - a weekly guide as to what's hot in the world of music presented by your friends here at The Ruckus. As always I (Anthony Barlow) will be acting as the captain of this ship, guiding you towards fresh and interesting new discoveries. This week I've got to tell you just how good Jeff Rosenstock's new record is ahead of our full review (look for that later this week!) and point you in the direction of the eeriest dudes in folk The Quiet Quiet Band.

So...I suppose we best crack on then?

Jeff Rosenstock - We Cool?

The latest offering from punk rock cult hero Jeff Rosenstock, We Cool? is an album that surely sits atop a lot of people's 'most anticipated' lists and boy does it deliver. Erratic and eclectic, it's everything we've come to expect from Jeff presented in one laser focused package. Each song sounds huge and important and you can hear just how much has gone into every part of the record. It feels well crafted but totally raw at the same time and I love it. Stand out track right now is 'You In Weird Cities', but they're all bangers.

I first came across The Quiet Quiet Band whilst wandering Upcote Farm late at night during 2000Trees a few years back. Quite a crowd had gathered around one of the busking stages and I stopped to hear them singing catchy folk tunes about serial killers and the like. They were weird. I liked them a lot. They've a new album coming out next week (March 9th) and 'Bunks' is the second track to be taken from it. Here we have a gypsy folk fuelled sea shanty about sailors in search of pastures new only to be murdered by a madman. If that's not original, I don't know what is.

The guys behind 2000Trees have added three more bands to their increasingly exciting 2015 lineup. Idlewild, We Are The Ocean and The Subways are the latest three big name bands to be announced, with the latter being revealed as the Thursday night headliner for early bird ticket holders.

Alongside this injection of indie rock, the Trees team have also added Creeper, Great Cynics, And So I Watch You From Afar and more to a lineup that, festival organiser, James Scarlett describes as "a barn storming mix of British rock bands".

These latest additions join the likes of Deaf Havana, Kerbdog, The Xcerts and Jonah Matranga as well as a slew of emerging bands; the festival keeping up their tradition of delivering a lineup packed with fan favourites whilst introducing music lovers to new talent. I for one am excited to see who else gets added between now and July and you should be too.

For more information on 2000Trees 2015, including every band announced for the festival so far, click here.

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